Congratulations to this year's winners in the Wings Awards! This is the second year the Australian Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and Australian Flying has run this awards program, and we're proud to be able to recognise the dedication and efforts of people whose contribution to general aviation would otherwise go largely unnoticed. It was my pleasure to contact each of the winners with the good news, and the humility with which each one greeted the news was in turn a very humbling experience for me. When award winners are genuinely shocked and grateful to be recognised, you know the judging panel made good choices. The quality of people nominated for the Col Pay Award was so high that we've decided to make nominations perpetual. If you've been nominated, but didn't win, your nomination will automatically roll over to 2016. I, personally, want to thank the RAeS for their hard work in establishing and maintaining the merit in the Wings Awards, Steve Padgett for adding his expertise to the judging panel, and David Jacobson from Jacobson Flare for his support.
CASA has given the aviation community plenty to talk about by unveiling their new regulatory philosophy. Ten simple points on paper that seem to deliver us the just culture we've been crying out for. This is a solid document that may just mark a turning point in the relationship between CASA and industry; Australian aviation's Magna Carta. But before we get too excited, let's remember that King John threw the Magna Carta in the kitchen draw (the one with the dead batteries, pens that don't work and string) and ignored everything that it stood for, leading to war with the barons. Is this just paper, and simply a way to tick off Recommendation 14 on Mark Skidmore's Forsyth to-do list? Only time can answer that one. Eventually, the fairness and freedoms enshrined in the Magna Carta did become part of English society and today many of them still have effect in even the Australian justice system. Let's hope this document can do the same ... the aviation community needs it badly.
The sword fight between AOPA and CASA over the ADS-B mandate continues. To recap, AOPA says the original costs used in measuring the impact are wrong and GA will be heavily financially punished for no benefit. CASA says the costings are fine. The appalling thing about this dispute is that it should have happened when the original impact statement was released. Now we are only 18 months away from a very expensive mandate and the battle lines are being drawn only now. Why did it take Dick Smith appearing in the senate to get this argument on the front page? Someone somewhere has dropped the ball and as the impact statement and all other ADS-B documents have been public for years, you can't blame any regulatory authority for hiding anything.
I have to say that I love this new avionics system for the SF50! There's so much technology jammed into a relatively small space, and it looks like everything is within easy reach. We're probably looking at the future of most new GA aircraft, because with this sort of technology available, why would you not use it? We just need to find a way to make it more economical so it can filter down through all levels of GA.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch